The present invention relates to a novel dental implant system.
Dental implants have been employed for many years to replace missing teeth or to replace dentures. Generally, the implant includes the use of a titanium screw having a threaded bone and a threaded outer surface. The titanium screw is bonded to the jawbone through osseointergation process, generally believed to take place between the thin layer of titanium oxide on the exterior of the screw and the jawbone. With reference to U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,532, an improvement is shown which includes the provision of a dental implant system which closely mimics the movement of a natural tooth. In that system, the post portion of the implant was generally formed along an axis and placed within the artificial root in a coaxial configuration.
It has been found that successful dental implants must closely match the angle of the existing adjacent teeth found in the jawbone of the patient. In the past, achievement of this result required drilling the jawbone to an angle such that the finished dental implant match the angle of the existing teeth. However, this procedure has proved to be fairly difficult to perform.
A dental implant which solves the problems encountered in the prior art would be a great advance in the dental field.